I haven't played Link's Awakening yet, nor the Four Swords games, but I would still recommend The Minish Cap.
This game is probably best looking top down game, visually, the graphical style suits the theme of the game perfectly and it really does add to the experience in my opinion. This game also features one of the best overworlds in the series, there is quite a lot to do and it probably has the better exploration out of the games you mentioned. This game also features some great puzzles and dungeons, so if you enjoy that sort of aspect then this game is your best option. However, I wouldn't necessarily say it's a challenging game, done get me wrong it's not easy, but I would say it falls on the easy side in terms of the top down games.
This game seems quite familiarly to be honest, of course I'm talking about A Link to the Past . Some may say too familiar but I actually like that. So if you enjoyed A Link to the Past and maybe want a more stylish and visually better game, then this would be your best bet, like I said though, it probably isn't the most challenging nor puzzling in the series.